Evolutionary medicine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evolutionary medicine or Darwinian medicine is the field of knowledge that integrates medicine with evolutionary biology, more specifically with the adaptationist program.

The theory of evolution suggests that all living beings are the result of a process known as evolution by natural selection. This process occurs whenever genetically influenced variation among a population affects reproductive success. For instance, a genetic mutation that causes greater vulnerability to disease and negatively affects reproductive success will decrease in frequency compared to its alternative allele that causes greater resistance to disease.

It is thought that evolution by natural selection produced the functional design observed in living beings, known as adaptations, and therefore sickness and disease can be explained through a cost v. benefit analysis of physiological function. Understanding evolutionary design helps medical researchers explain phenomena like: infections, injury, intoxication, genetic diseases, aging, allergy, problems during childbirth, cancer and mental disorders.

A well-known example of the application of evolutionary medicine is the study of the evolutionary arms race between the body's defenses and pathogens. Other examples include human populations that have certain disease susceptibilities that arose as compromises allowing their survival. These include, sickle cell anemia protecting against malaria and hemochromatosis protecting against the bubonic plague.

Among the researchers in this field who have received recent recognition are: Rainer H. Straub, Paul W. Ewald, Sharon Moalem, Randolph M. Nesse, Dr. James McKenna, and George C. Williams.

Contents 1 See also 2 References 3 Further reading 4 External links

[edit] See also

• Evolutionary physiology
• Evolutionary psychology
• Hunter-gatherer fitness
• Paleolithic diet
• Raw foodism

[edit] References

• Stearns, S. C., and J. K. Koella. 2007. Evolution in Health and Disease, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Trevathan, W. R. 2008. Evolutionary Medicine, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, New York.
• O’Higgins, P., and S. Elton. Medicine and Evolution: Current Applications, Future Prospects: Society for the Study of Human Biology, v. 48. Taylor and Francis, London (in press).
• Randolph M. Nesse, Stephen C. Stearns (2008) The great opportunity: Evolutionary applications to medicine and public health Evolutionary Applications 1 (1), 28–48 doi:10.1111/j.1752-4571.2007.00006.x

[edit] Further reading

• (2007) in Aird, William C.: Endothelial Biomedicine. Cambridge University Press, 1500 pp.. ISBN 0521853761. 
• Childs, B.; Wiener, C.; Valle, D. (2005). "A science of the individual: Implications for a medical school curriculum". Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics 6: 313-330. ISSN 1527-8204. 
• Cosmides, L.; Tooby, J. (1999). "Toward an evolutionary taxonomy of treatable conditions". Journal of Abnormal Psychology 108 (3): 453-464. ISSN 0021-843X. 
• Ewald, P. W. (1996). Evolution of Infectious Disease. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511139-7. 
• LeGrand, E. K.; Brown C. C. (2002). "Darwinian medicine: applications of evolutionary biology for veterinarians". Canadian Veterinary Journal: 556-559. ISSN 0008-5286. PMID 12125190. 
• Moalem, S.; Prince, J.. Survival of the Sickest. ISBN 978-0-06-088965-4. 
• Nesse, R. M.; Williams, G. C.. Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine. ISBN 0-679-74674-9. 
• Stearns, Stephen C. (1999). Evolution in Health and Disease. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-8504454. 
• Stiehm, E. R. (2006). "Disease versus disease: how one disease may ameliorate another". Pediatrics 117 (1): 184-191. doi:10.1542/peds.2004-2773. ISSN 0031-4005. PMID 16396876. 
• Straub, RH.; Besedovsky, HO. (2003). "Integrated evolutionary, immunological, and neuroendocrine framework for the pathogenesis of chronic disabling inflammatory diseases". Faseb J 17 (15): 2176-2183. 
• Trevathan, W. R. (1999). Evolutionary Medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510356-4. 
• Williams, G. C.; Nesse, R. M. (1991). "The dawn of Darwinian medicine". Quarterly Review of Biology 66 (1): 1-22. ISSN 0033-5770. 

[edit] External links

• "Evolution and Medicine" website
• http://www.people.virginia.edu/~rjh9u/darwmed.html
• http://www.chester.ac.uk/~sjlewis/EM/